March 26, 2014

Google’s election hub empowers voters

Is elections fever driving you to Google for campaign news? Like the millions of Indian voters who are searching up a storm about the Lok Sabha elections, or who are searching for their polling dates, we’re also curious to find out more about the coming polls. That’s why we’ve given our Google Elections hub a significant facelift: starting today, Indian voters who visit Google.co.in/electionswill now see many new tools that will help get them informed, engaged, and inspired for voting day.

This revamped hub is the home of our Pledge to Vote campaign, a “Google score” tool for politicians, Search trends infographics, YouTube Election playlists (get even more videos at our YouTube Elections hub), and where you can tune into our Hangouts with politicians.

Pledge to Vote

These historic elections mark a crucial moment for India. It’s important that you exercise your right to vote, which is why we set up this first-ever Pledge to Vote map for India. Using the map-tool, you can share why you pledge to vote, while also viewing why your fellow citizens across the nation pledge to vote.

You can also watch this inspiring story of Mr. Shyam Negi, independent India’s first voter, who is 97 years old and has never missed the opportunity to vote.

Google Score and Infographics

For the first time, Google’s engineers have created a “Google Score” tool, which reflects the amount of search activity for a person in the previous 24 hours using Google Search and YouTube, combined with the amount of engagement with a person's name on Google+. Everyday we will display five politicians with the highest Google Scores from the previous day. The site also has infographics based on Google Trends, such as top-searched Chief Ministers, regional parties, and more.

Hangouts Series

Google is working with a host of partners to enable a direct dialogue between citizens and leaders by means of Google+ Hangouts, which allows up to nine participants to interact on a video chat, which is also broadcast live on YouTube. The first politician who joined us on Hangout was BJP leader Arun Jaitley on 25th March. You can review the calendar of guests in this series at our Elections Portal. If you can’t get on YouTube to tune in, you can give a missed call to 088-00-484848 to listen in on the Hangout (both live and after it's over). In the past, leaders like Narendra Modi and Mr. P Chidambaram have successfully used this platform to engage with citizens on various topics, so we hope that users will continue to find this platform helpful as a means of connecting with their representatives.

As you gear up for voting day, remember that your one-stop shop for Elections 2014 is at Google.co.in/elections. Bookmark the page and check back often as campaign season in India heats up.Posted by Sandeep Menon, Director Marketing, Google India